The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-04-07

aHOtHeT With great TeilcI. MaTv WIS
to some extent in safety. She was III
the care of good women. and whatever
might be her guardians subsequent
plans for her. we should have no Difficult
~ in finding her now, and meantime
we could feel quite sure Of her kind
treatment.
could not rest, however, without
seeing for myself the place whe-e she
had SO lately been. and following Har-
pcr's directions, /, after some wander.
ing. arrived at the house.
The good landlady, warmed with SYM
sympathy, and opening the heart of gar
rIiity to an interested listener dcscrib-
ed graphically enough the incidents Of
Mary's short sojourn under her roof.
The lady, she said, seemed distratte
and sad; she had hccn weeping, and
would take nothing. The gentleman
was very polite and attentive, but not
sympathetic.
"And the Sister," I asked, .'the lady
who took her away-did she seem
kind?"
The woman shook her head and de-
precatingly raised the backs Of her
hands. The young lady seemed terri
fled when she saw her, but the lady
had great power and persuaded her.
The gentleman said she mus: either
.,tay with him or 60 with her, and then
the young lady seemed very angry and
went away with the tall Sister.
..What was the Sister likc?"
.'She was tall-vcry tall; like SO
many Of the English women"
..Englishr'
Eyes, certainly English; and very
nandsomc-a very pale face, and such
eyes! Never had she seen such eyes;
but they were not good, those eyes!
All, what was the matter with mon
sieur?''
started ard turned pale. What il
this Sister of Mercy should be the Basil
isk' 1t must be so. put few qucs-
tons which seemed to put it beyond
doubt.
.And the carriage in Which they
went away ?"
1t was an ordinary carriage. She
had not taken any particular notice Of
it.
And where had they gomez"
She did not know. The lady had
given no directions. The driver SEEM
eli to know. for he drove Oft at once.
returned To the hotel, once more
prey to devouring anxiety. Shaw, too,
was much moved by this latest develop
mcnt. He begged me, however. to sit
down and rest, and endeavor to COM
pose my mind.
..No." said, sit Is impossible; I
must go out. 1t is the only resource /
have now. ! must find Maryr'
..But," said he soothingly, ..you
can't expect to find her by walking
about the streets Of Antwerp at ran
DOM"
why notP" said. II found
Plowitz by accident this morning.
may find Mary by accident this even-
ing"
And out went.
As pursued my vague quest, the
clear light that precedes sunset on q
windy evening brought every OBJ
ject in startling relief. The leaves
were flying aud whirling around;
masses Of clouds, amber and grey,
were confusedly rolling across the sky;
the rocks were cawing about tho tow
ers, and the strange music of the
chimes rang out fitfully upon the bat
Ting brcczes. / felt a sense of danger.
and. passing . shop where large ar
ray Of sticks caught my eye.I stepped in
and purchased q seryiceable life-pre-
server. l wandered about for some
time aimlessly enough, but by degrees
l bent my steps in the direction of the
house whence Mary had been removed
/ by the Basilisk. Two OR three times !
paced the street. hoping, it may be.
that some inspiration would draw me
in the direction which Mary had taken,
and then plunged into labyrinth OF
narrow streets paved with cobble-
stones. ill-smelling, and framed by old
fashioned. and dilapidated houses.
The dusk was now rapidly falling,
though occasional CLEANS of red
light brought the outlines of the
gables into weird distinctncss as the
rack and yapours weird swept by 4
strong rush of wind from the face Of
the still glowing west.
In the gates Of the courtyard by
which entrance was obtained to most
Of tho houses in this region, few
people here and there fingered pictur
esque groups occasionally. homely ant
honest folk. having little gossip after
their days work, but more often i'll
favored and sordid beings, wrinklcd
old hags. bold-faced women, and hulk.
ing, ill-favorcd men in blouses.
In the cloud-swept sky | caught a
glimpse of a pale moon. and tLen sud-
J denly, in clear twilight, there emerged
J from a gateway not fifty yards ahead
! of me figure which brought me to .
. standstill-a tall figure of woman in
long dark robes. could no. be mis-
! taken in. that form. It was the Bias
! ilisk! sought the shelter of \ project
Ing doorway, ard watched.
. She paused, went on few PAGES
! and then suddenly turned and went
back to tho house whence she emerged
,.,She disappeared in the door way
] l quickly covered the intervening
ground, and rcconnoitred. foune
myself in front of the gate of court
yard. On the left-hand side was !.
dark doorway, up three or four steer
brick steps. A feeble light tlickered il
window beside the door. High WALL
with only few windows, bounded til,
narrow yard. ! had scarcely min
ute to make these observations wke'
the sound Of a door opening ant
voices caused me to draw back int
! the shadow. One voice was the vo;c
| new SO wcll-the voice of Giuli
Beaufoy. The other was the harsh
croaking, understanding voice Of al
old woman.
"A dix hcurcs," said the Basilisk
e "a dir heures," repeated the othc
J voice in = tone Of malicious obsequious